Judge to look at rape appeal refusal
Legal first sees examination of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ruling
A judge will be looking at the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commissions's ruling on a rape case which was not sent to the appeal court.
The legal first will see the judge look into the case of three Edinburgh men who were sent to prison for the gang rape of a young mother in 1999. David Pugh, 27, Brian Meighan, 28, and Kevin Kane, 23, have always denied carrying out the rape. They are due to be released in November having served six years in prison and twice turned down the chance of parole by refusing to admit to their guilt.
Friends of the rape victim said she confessed to them after the event that she had consented to sex and made the accusation up in order to claim compensation.
The men have been given legal aid in order to carry out the review, which is scheduled to take place before the end of the year.
Human rights lawyer Aidan O'Neill QC studied the case and concluded that the SCCRC should not have rejected the evidence of the woman's friends, leading to the decision to grant the man legal aid. Gordon Jackson QC, John Carroll and Jim Keegan also examined the ruling and agreed that a miscarriage of justice may have happened.
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